Guard Eric Gordon guided the New Orleans Hornets to victory over the San Antonio Spurs 95-88.
Gordon was the top scorer with 24 points, which included six consecutive points in a game-winning stretch in the final quarter.
"That's one of the key things I do best when it comes to late-game situations or if anything gets tough,'' the Associated Press quoted Gordon as saying. ''I like to take guys one on one and I'm able to get a shot off and get a good shot. I look forward to that. I love those situations.''
Rookie Anthony Davis had 17 points and nine rebounds, while Greivis Vasquez contributed with 14 points and 11 assists. Ryan Anderson finished with 13 points and five rebounds against the Spurs.
The New Orleans defense limited a strong San Antonio offense to just 88 points, which went a long way in ending their six-game losing streak against the Spurs. In all the nine games that the Hornets (9-25) have won this season, they have managed to keep their opponents to below 100.
"To hold this team to 88 points is a great sign for our defense," Hornets coach Monty Williams said. "Confidence, to me, comes when you defend the right way, and I thought we did that tonight."
For the Spurs, Manu Ginobili was the leading scorer with 21 points and five rebounds. Tony Parker scored 16 points, Tim Duncan had 13, while Kawhi Leonard finished with 10 points.
The Hornets started off well, outscoring the Spurs 24-19 in the first quarter. They again picked up more points than their opponents in the second period by scoring 25 against San Antonio's 22 and entered the second half with an eight-point lead.
The Spurs did better against the Hornets in the third quarter with the scores reading 24-21 in their favor, meaning they were trailing by five points going into the final quarter.
Gordon entered the game in the fourth quarter with 7:41 left and had three jumpers to guide the Hornets to extend their lead to 84-77 with 5:06 left.
The top scorer then had another jumper which took the Hornets lead to 88-79 with 3:26 left in the game.
"Tonight we collectively played hard for 48 minutes," Williams said. "Even when (the Spurs) made a run, it was one of those runs that scared you a bit, but you knew that with Eric and Greivis playing that way, you had a chance to kind of pull out of it."
With a steal and a layup, Vasquez extended New Orleans' lead to 90-79 lead with 2:35 remaining.
"They've got a closer now," Stephen Jackson said. "(Gordon) took the game over and was going to work at the end of the game, doing what he wanted. He closed the game for them, and that was what they were missing -- a closer."
The Hornets outscored the Spurs 25-23 to win the game by seven points.
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